Missing
by 3rdArmy
Summary: Private First Class John Arc was reported MISSING IN ACTION on the 1st of April, 1968 while engaging hostile forces in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam. Jaune Arc registered for Ansel citizenship at the age of 17
1. Intro: Our Deepest Regrets

**WESTERN UNION**

 **TELEGRAM**

WU1 XV GOVT PD= FAX WASHINGTON DC FEBRUARY APRIL 3 630 P EDT

MR. & MRS. JOHN ARC.

901 PIKE ST SEATTLE WASH

I DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOHN ARC HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING ON APRIL 1 1968 IN THE VICINITY OF QUANG TRI, REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. HE WAS ON A PATROL WHEN ENGAGED BY HOSTILE FORCES IN AMBUSH. PLEASE ACCEPT ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS OUR SINCERE SYMPATHY IN YOUR BEREAVEMENT

LEONARD F CHAPMAN JR GENERAL USMC COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

 **AN: NOTE: NARRATIVE BITS BEGIN AT PROLOGUE 1**

 **I don't even know. I am basically just setting up a few ideas. I read a Vietnam War Jaune thing a while back and got inspired. I can't even write so I have no idea where this will even go.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Intro 2: The President Takes Pride In:

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOHN ARC

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

Private First Class John Arc distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty for service as a Rifleman with First Platoon, Company B, First Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division in the Republic of Vietnam on April 1, 1968. While conducting a patrol in the vicinity of Khe Sanh, First Platoon, Company B was approaching a river bed with a heavily wooded treeline when they suddenly came under intense mortar, rocket propelled grenades, automatic weapons, and small arms fire from a large, well concealed enemy force emplaced in a ditch which halted the patrol and inflicted heavy casualties. Private First Class John Arc immediately rushed to the aid of his platoon leader and several other men, dragging them to a sheltered position. Realizing that key positions would have to be neutralized in order to allow his platoon to withdraw, Private First Class John Arc, without hesitation, fixed his bayonet and led two other marines in an aggressive movement against the enemy positions, delivering accurate suppressive fire while also exposing himself to enemy fire, allowing several of his comrades to withdraw. Private First Class John Arc entered the enemy positions along the ditch, bayoneting two enemy rifleman and eliminating several others with hand grenades and rifle fire before being wounded in the face and chest by rocket fire from a conjoining enemy position. After retreating with his two comrades back to the platoon area for more ammunition and grenades, Private First Class John Arc was last seen advancing once more through the opposite embankment, drawing automatic rifle and rocket fire, allowing the remnants of his platoon to disengage and evacuate their wounded. The heroism, courage, and dynamic leadership displayed by Private First Class John Arc undoubtedly saved his platoon from complete annihilation and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

March 2nd, 1971

 **THE WHITE HOUSE**


	3. Prologue 1

John Arc had lost his mind. Or at least he thought so with whatever modicum of thought he was still capable of. He could faintly hear Sergeant Kellerman calling out to him to retreat but with all the gunfire and explosions deafening him, he was no longer sure. He cared very little either way. His advanced carried him farther and farther from his platoon and the stream.

He was hit. He could feel the warmth of blood trickling flowing down his face and chest but oddly enough, he could barely feel the pain. In fact, he could feel the three bandoleers of magazines he had picked up off Abbot's torn up corpse weighing down on his neck more than the searing pain that he knew he would feel after the adrenaline wore off.

The dense jungle loomed ominously in front of him. He could barely see fifty yards to his front, not much, but enough to see the brief flashes and movement in the darkness behind the brush arrayed before him which spouted forth a wave of lethal fire at him. Leaves and small branches dropped on and around him as bullets burrowed into the undergrowth around him, severing bits of the undergrowth.

The passage of each bullet was heralded by a loud crack which could clearly be heard over the cacophony of gunfire and explosions. With the volume of fire directed at him, it felt to John Arc that reality itself was beginning to shatter. He took a knee and curled up for a few seconds as the fire became particularly heavy.

He chuckled as he ducked down. Sgt Kellerman would have busted his ass for attempting to advance without gaining fire superiority but even six months ago, Basic Infantryman Training had seemed like years ago. Now, it was but a nostalgic memory which seemed to have taken place a lifetime ago.

He barely gave the thought another second before he raised his rifle to the underarm position and fired. With a roar, the rifle kicked up in his arms as it voraciously chewed up its ammunition and spit out 7.62 NATO ammunition in a wide cone. John fought to keep the muzzle pointed level at his target as the gun kicked up in his arms and sent vibrations through his arms and down his legs. It was as though he was attempting to restrain a feral animal from attacking something.

The beast finished the magazine and John dropped to the dirt. He quickly reached to his waist and pulled up a magazine, knocked out its spent compatriot and rocked the new one into the magwell. A quick slap to the charging handle unlocked the system and the bolt slammed a bullet into the chamber.

He began to push himself up but stopped himself. Once again he hugged the dirt, ignoring the root digging into his thigh and the bushes tickling and scratching his arms and face. Vaguely, through his jumbled mind, his mind decided that he should have lit himself a cigarette before he began. His body was shaking as though it was eighty degrees below zero rather than eighty above. He chided himself inwardly for his fear as he had countless times before and yet again, it proved useless.

John gripped a tree and hauled himself up and faintly aware of the steadily increasing weight his flak vest, field pack, web gear, and bandoleers were placing on his aching body. He slowly advanced, doing his best to ignore the cracks sounding and the dirt kicking up around him as he navigated his way forward through bushes and over roots.

Time passed. How much time was a mystery to him, one which he didn't care to figure out. At the moment, John Arc was measuring his life in inches. His advance through the brush continued inch by inch, sometimes briefly stopping to take cover, sometimes in order to return fire.

And then he stopped. A sledgehammer blow, courtesy of the North Vietnamese Army, stroke John in the chest, throwing him onto his back and knocking the wind out of him. He screamed as the signals traveled instantly from his chest to his brain and the pain burned into his mind, overriding his conscious. Wracked with pain, he never noticed the grenade which bounced off his bleeding chest and landed on the ground next to his face.

^Missing^

 _A young boy bounced up and down, causing the sofa he was sitting on to creak. His mother hushed him and pulled him up into her lap. She looked across the room to his father's office and called to him, "Come on honey, we already missed most of it!"_

" _I'm coming!" His father's voice sounded and he emerged from his office, turned on the television and switched to the correct channel, before joining the two on the couch._

 _All three watched in silence with bated breath before President John Fitzgerald Kennedy appeared before them, fist thumping his podium as he spoke, "-energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it-and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."_

 _John Arc did not quite understand what Mr. President was speaking of without any context, but all the same he listened intently. This was the president after all, the most important man in the country and the head of an institution several generations of Arcs had fought to uphold._

 _The president then pointed at the audience before him, but to little John the President Kennedy might as well have been pointing directly at him._

" _And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country."_

 _Such a simple statement needed no explanation for John Arc. He understood clearly and those words embedded into his mind. The audience broke into applause but John Arc paid them little attention. The President had spoken._

 **AN:**

 **This is mostly a test run. Leave whatever comments. Criticism is of course, welcome as I know very little about writing. I am a bit of a history buff so I apologize if some of the writing becomes very technical. If it goes south in that area, please tell me. This won't have a consistent update schedule. Its my senior year of high school and I have a bunch of other stuff I want to do before I go off to college so this might go off and on.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


End file.
